intractable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Italic *n̥-

Latin in-bor.

Middle English in-

English in-

English tractable

English intractable

From in- + tractable.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɹæk.tə.bəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

intractable (comparative more intractable, superlative most intractable)

1. Not tractable; not able to be managed, controlled, governed or directed.
   • 1972, Edsger W. Dijkstra, The Humble Programmer (EWD340):

     And I cannot but expect that this will repeatedly lead to the discovery that an initially intractable problem can be factored after all.

2. (mathematics, of a mathematical problem) Not able to be solved in polynomial time; too difficult to attempt to solve.
3. Difficult to deal with, solve, or manage. (of a problem)
   • 1988, Robert Jackall, “Chapter 1: Moral Probations, Old and New”, in Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers, Twentieth Anniversary edition, →ISBN, page 12:

     Work—bureaucratic work in particular—poses a series of intractable dilemmas that often demand compromises with traditional moral beliefs.

4. Stubborn; obstinate. (of a person)
5. (medicine) Difficult to treat (of a medical condition).

Derived terms

• intractability
• intractableness
• intractably

Translations

not tractable

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: неподатлив (bg) (nepodatliv), непокорен (bg) (nepokoren)
• Catalan: intractable (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 難控制的 / 难控制的 (nán kòngzhì de), 難解決的 / 难解决的 (nán jiějué de)

• Czech: nezvladatelný (cs) m
• Dutch: onhandelbaar (nl)
• Finnish: vaikea (fi), hankala (fi), uppiniskainen (fi), itsepäinen (fi), omapäinen (fi)
• French: ingouvernable (fr)
• German: schwer handhabbar, verfahren (de)
• Hungarian: (material) szívós (hu), (person, esp. child) kezelhetetlen (hu), engedetlen (hu), rakoncátlan (hu), fegyelmezhetetlen
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: intractābilis
• Occitan: intractable
• Russian: неуправляемый (ru) (neupravljajemyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: intraktabilan, nesavladiv (sh)
• Spanish: inmanejable (es)
• Swedish: ohanterlig (sv)

mathematics: not able to be solved in polynomial time; too difficult to attempt to solve

• Dutch: moeilijk (nl)
• Finnish: vaikea ratkaista
• French: intraitable (fr)
• German: unlenksam
• Hungarian: nehéz (hu)
• Russian: трудная (ru) (trudnaja), тру́дный (ru) (trúdnyj)
• Spanish: intratable (es)

of a problem: difficult to deal with, solve, or manage

• Finnish: vaikea (fi), hankala (fi), visainen (fi)
• Russian: трудноразрешимый (ru) (trudnorazrešimyj)
• Spanish: intratable (es)

stubborn, obstinate — see also stubborn,‎ obstinate

• Bulgarian: упорит (bg) (uporit)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 倔強 / 倔强 (zh) (juéjiàng)

• Dutch: obstinaat (nl), koppig (nl)
• Finnish: itsepäinen (fi), omapäinen (fi), omavaltainen, vaikea (fi)
• French: intraitable (fr), buté (fr)
• German: störrisch (de), stur (de)
• Hungarian: makacs (hu), konok (hu), hajthatatlan (hu), csökönyös (hu)
• Māori: kakī mārō, upoko mārō
• Occitan: intractable
• Russian: упря́мый (ru) (uprjámyj), непода́тливый (ru) (nepodátlivyj), непоко́рный (ru) (nepokórnyj)
• Spanish: obstinado (es)
• Swedish: omedgörlig (sv)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: صارپ (sarp)

medicine: difficult to treat

• Bulgarian: упорит (bg) (uporit)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 難治癒的 / 难治愈的 (nán zhìyù de)

• Finnish: itsepintainen (fi), vaikea (fi)
• French: intraitable (fr)
• German: schwierig zu behandeln
• Hungarian: makacs (hu)
• Occitan: intractable
• Russian: трудноизлечи́мый (ru) (trudnoizlečímyj)
• Spanish: intratable (es)
• Swedish: svårbehandlad

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “intractable”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “intractable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

From in- +‎ tractable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [in.tɾəkˈtab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.tɾakˈta.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [in.tɾakˈtab.ble]

Adjective

intractable m or f (masculine and feminine plural intractables)

1. intractable

   Antonym: tractable

Further reading

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “intractable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
• “intractable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007